MakerBot Industries

I love this project. Who wouldn’t want to be able to just draw 3D models in the air with an LED?

Is it possible to let a first sketch become an object, to design directly onto space? The four FRONT members have developed a method to materialise free hand sketches. They make it possible by using a unique method where two advanced techniques are combined. Pen strokes made in the air are recorded with Motion Capture and become 3D digital files; these are then materialised through Rapid Prototyping into real pieces of furniture.

I wish the code could be open and have a wonderful UI so that even kids could make really cool digital designs and print them on their MakerBot. This project seems like it would be really fun to code up for someone who is interested in working with open frameworks. Are you that person? Go for it and share! On a Makerbot scale, I think there would have to be some way to choose how “thick” your drawing lines are in the post-drawing process. I gotta give it to Front. They did this in 2007. Super awesome!

via Front » Projects.

Hitchcock cookie cutters by Matt Griffin

You have until 11:11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time tonight to get your Halloween designs up on Thingiverse for an opportunity to get some free glow-in-the-dark ABS!

Get in the spirit of the season and design something spooky to 3D print on your MakerBot. Check out the spooky Hitchockian designs by our own Matt Griffin. And, no, he’s not eligible to get any free glow-in-the-dark plastic, but we appreciate his contribution!

The Halloween design challenge champion will be announced later this week. Stay tuned and thanks to everyone who has uploaded something to help us get in the mood for H-A-LL-O-W-EE-N with our 3D printers.

Well, there's your problem...

Quick, name just one company that care enough about its users that it is willing to create a firmware/software fix to save you from having to buy a new or replacement part.

Drawing a blank?  Here’s a hint – their name rhymes with SchmakerBot Industries.  The latest version of ReplicatorG, version 0020, provides a way to remap the terminals.  If you’ve blown out an H-Bridge¹ you don’t have to go through the hassle of finding a new chip, desoldering the old one, resoldering the new one in, and troubleshoot it all.  There are probably at least half a dozen 3D printers out there right now with this exact problem keeping them from cranking out all sorts of cool things – their operators wistfully looking at Thingiverse each evening before drifting off to sleep.

Well!  Sleep no longer!  There is printing to be done!  Things to be made!  ReplicatorG 0020 is here to rescue you from your unproductive and restful slumber!

1. I call them fiddly bits. [↩]

Super hot off the wires today is truly one of the most awesome things ever, a 3D printer made of Legos that prints things…. with Legos!

http://www.battlebricks.com/makerlegobot/

How many bots could you build if you were building bots in Belgium?

On October 9 – 10, 2010 Timelab.org and Wim Vandeputte¹ ran a MakerBot build weekend at the “IF … Innovation Festival Kortrijk” during the “Yes! We’re Open” expo by Thomas Lommee in Kortrijk, Belgium.  Lots people registered and showed up to assemble MakerBots during this two-day festival.  By the end of the weekend they had 11 fully operational MakerBots!

Bart Grimonprez and several design students from the HoWest design group cut a transparent amber acrylic case.  Lieven Standaert modified the MakerBot Cupcake designs to work with 5 mm plywood, which is easier to obtain in Belgium. ²

One of the winners of the MakerBot Teacher Giveaway³ Walter Janssens from the Karel de Grote-Hogeschool assembled a MakerBot from scratch with the help of a large group to give him a head start for when his ‘bot arrives.

1. Seen here standing next to his MakerBot, “Pinky” [↩]
2. They promise the design files will be up on Thingiverse once it’s up and running! [↩]
3. We gave away MakerBots, not teachers [↩]